Parenting Classes Keene NH

Parenthood can be an overwhelming prospect, and can put you in unfamiliar territory without steady footing. Attending parenting classes is a great, informative way to build your confidence as a parent and meet others with similar concerns or helpful advice. Check below for related information, products and services.

Baby Sign Language, How to Interact with Baby in Sign Language

How to Interact With Your Baby

Do you think that your baby is too young for you to enjoy interacting with him? Think again. There is a lot you can do, using baby sign language , that will be fun for both of you. Additionally, it will also have a beneficial effect on your baby's development.

Talk to your baby. Identify the different sounds and gestures particular to your baby. Try to interpret these gestures to understand what your baby is telling you. You may want to research baby sign language training for you and your baby if you're interested in this mode of communication.

Smile and coo at your baby. Your baby will soon learn to smile and coo back at you. This is not just a game-it is a form of baby sign language that will teach your baby about a two-way conversation.

While changing, bathing, or feeding, tell the baby what you are doing. This way your baby will learn to associate your speech with the action you are performing.

Give your baby different things to hold in his hand, like a rattle, a wad of cotton, a handkerchief, or a piece of paper. Infants enjoy finding out the properties of different objects. For instance, they learn to shake a rattle to produce sound, or crumple a piece of paper and straighten it out again.

Encourage your baby to look at you and imitate what you are doing. This is also similar to using baby sign language. Your baby will soon learn to put on a cap, pull off socks,...

Parenting Styles, Articles on Effective Parenting Style

Choose Your Parenting Style

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Your parenting style is likely to impact the way your child grows up. Being responsive to your children, and at the same time, setting clear rules and limits, is crucial for you as a parent. Based on this, four main styles of parenting have been identified:

"Just do it or else" - Some parents adopt a highly authoritarian, dictatorial style. They expect children to obey orders without questioning. Rules are well defined in such households and breaking them usually invites punishment. Such a system is typical of societies where little change is expected and deviance from normal behavior can be costly such as a rural or agrarian society.

"A no means a no" - Some parents are firm, assertive, and authoritative without being authoritarian. They set clear rules, and are firm about discipline without using harsh punishment. Children in such homes are expected to be socially responsible.

"Do anything you want" - Parents with this style believe in the permissive or indulgent approach. They do not demand responsible behavior and avoid confrontation with their children. Several parents in the 50s and 60s adopted this style.

"I don't care what you do" - Few parents remain uninvolved in their children's lives, which in few cases, borders on neglect.

Typically, most parents are variations or combinations of the above four styles.

There is no "right" or "wrong" parenting style though we all have prejudices on what we think works best based on our own experience and values. Research, however, has shown the effects of various parenting styles on children:

Children that have grown up in authoritarian settings, tend to show average performance in school but lack spontaneity, effective social skills, and self-confidence.

Top Five Ways in which Dads are Different - Introduction

Research has revealed that interactions with a father are as important as interactions with a mother in a child's integral development.

A father's influence starts to be important from very early on. One study, conducted in Germany, showed that dads who interacted with their kids in sensitive, supportive, and challenging ways, starting from the age of two, continued to have a good rapport with them through their teen years.

Dad is important to a baby's social development 5, 10, and 20 years down the line. Researchers found that kids less attached to their dads at age 5 were more anxious, withdrawn, and less self-confident at age 9. This resulted in lower acceptance by peers and made them less well adjusted at school.

Another study revealed that kids from families where dads work together with children on household chores, proved to be better adjusted and more socially aware. This provides a win-win situation for dads, moms, and kids. It might interest sex-deprived dads that this same research also found that dads who did more housework fared better in their sex lives with their wives.

How Are Dads Different from Moms?

In our culture, mom is looked upon as the expert in child rearing, because she usually is the one to stay home with the baby and takes a more natural intense interest in the baby due to her specific personal experience. Moms and grandmothers often patronize fathers about their role ("isn't that cute how he tries to change the diaper") or worse, criticize dads outright for their approach to parenting. It's very important for couples working as a team to understand that yet again, Mars and Venus look at their roles as parents differently. One is not better than the other. In fact, research has revealed that kids develop more completely when the parenting styles of dads and moms c...

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